Fear, Chaos, Pain
by ilovetoph4eva
Summary: The world is destiny's horror show, filled with the dark and the utterly terrifying. We all just play our parts. So what do you do when destiny chooses your part for you. You're the chosen, the cursed, the forgotten. Do you follow blindly, or do you fight? Three destinies, three pillars; earth, sky, sea; spirit, heart, mind; escape, follow, create; Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura. AU
1. Chapter 1

**Fear, Chaos, Pain**

**Chapter 1**

OoOoO

Hiruzen Sarutobi surveyed the three jounin he had summoned to his office. Anko, Kakashi and Yamato. There were typically only two chairs on the other side of his desk, and so Yamato had opted to stand between them.

Kakashi was slouched in his seat, his gaze fixed to something over Hiruzen's shoulder. Presumably out the window. It was typical of his behaviour really. Protocol had long since ceased to apply to the one eyed jounin, and in almost any other case there may have been consequences. But his rank as an elite Jounin afforded him a great deal of leniency in regards to propriety.

Anko on the other hand, he was simply rather fond of. She was relaxed, not casual. Knew when to be professional, and when to be… herself, as "unique" as she was.

Yamato, was easily the most professional of the three. He was stood straight, arms crossed behind his back and completely focused. Behaviour typical of an ANBU Captain.

The three of them were amongst the very best. And now he had what was quite possibly the most important task they were ever going to be given.

"I'm sure you're wondering why you've been taken off of your full time responsibilities."

Yamato nodded, Kakashi stared lazily out the window, and Anko shrugged.

Hiruzen suppressed a sigh, sometimes speaking to the elite Jounin of Konoha felt like dealing with spoiled children. Anko and Kakashi at least, Yamato was alright.

"As you know, the ninja academy is soon to conclude and release their latest graduates. I want each of you, to take a team of genin."

Yamato nodded, Kakashi stared lazily out the window, and Anko shrugged.

"And you _cannot _fail them this time." He added.

That got Anko and Kakashi's attention. They stared at him as if he'd grown an extra limb.

"Any particular reason as to why?" asked Kakashi,

Yamato seemed to grimace at the informal tone of voice, but Hiruzen waved his hand dismissively, hoping to contain his ire.

"The clan heirs for the Hyuuga, Uchiha, Akimichi, Nara, Yamanaka, Aburame and Inuzuka are _all _in this year's graduating classes. They are the future of this village, and as such will need guidance from the elite if they are to grow and fulfill their roles in this village."

Anko sank into her seat as he went on. Kakashi on the other hand was filled with questions so it seemed.

"Are you sure it's wise to remove us from Konoha's roster for this? We _are _elite Jounin for a reason. You don't have many of us to be wasting babysitting genin."

Before he could respond, Yamato spoke up.

"You should practice greater respect when speaking to Hokage-sama Kakashi-san."

Kakashi turned somewhat in his seat and looked at Yamato with a comically wide eye.

"Oh! Yamato. You know I didn't even realize you were here. My apologies, I'll do my best to speak with civility when you're in the room. Isn't that right Anko-chan."

Anko's lips curled with a smile. "Fuck yeah.."

Hiruzen decided to intervene before Yamato tried to forcibly silence the two of them.

"In regards to your question Kakashi, I have taken that into consideration, and have decided that you are only partially off the roster. You'll each be assigned an… assistant, if you will. Someone to help with training the genin in more specialized skills, and supervise their progress when you are needed for missions.

"Nope." Anko said immediately, "I work alone old man."

"I second that." Kakashi added, raising his hand.

Yamato just closed his eyes, presumably to quell the desire to lunge at her.

"Oh? So I take it to mean you accept your new position as teachers? Fantastic, unfortunately I didn't give you an option in regards to the assistant."

Kakashi sighed and returned his gaze out the window whilst Anko groaned. Only Yamato was on task.

"When do we begin Hokage-sama?"

"In one week's time, you will take your teams and begin their training. Under normal circumstances you would give a test. If they failed, they would undertake more training with the military division before being re-assessed for their capabilities. You do not have that luxury. I want them ready to compete in the chuunin exams later this year.

This time even Yamato seemed shocked. Anko and Kakashi were just speechless.

"Hokage-sama… that's in six months!"

"I'm sure you'll find a way. Nonetheless, it is not up for debate. We are going to have several guests of honour in Konoha, and I want them to be thoroughly impressed by the future prospects of our village. Commander Shimura will have further meetings with you concerning other details about your members and will also assign you assistants."

He then gestured at the three files laid across his desk.

"These are the public files for your teams. Commander Shimura has agreed to see you all as soon as possible, so that may as well be immediately. Anko-san, stay for a moment."

Yamato bowed quickly before taking his file and leaving. Kakashi stayed seated, idly twidling his fingers. Hiruzen cleared his throat and Kakashi _almost _seemed genuinely surprised.

"Oh, you were serious about just seeing Anko? And here I thought you were trying to get rid of the stick in the mud. Oh well."

Kakashi took his file and made his exit through the window.

Anko sat silently for a moment, but it didn't last long.

"So? What's so special that you couldn't even tell Kakashi? I'm guessing its to do with one of the genin you've assigned me?"

Hiruzen nodded. "Do you know anything about Naruto Ichiraku?"

Her face scrunched up in thought before a wide smile broke out onto her face.

"Yeah, I've heard about the kid. Got caught trying to prank the Hyuuga's didn't he? Can't remember what he was doing, but it had something to do with hair. His dad owns Ichiraku ramen right?"

He smiled. It wasn't surprising that despite all that had been done to help him keep a low profile, Naruto still brought attention to himself. He was just like his mother in that regard.

"Naruto is an orphan Anko. Just like yourself. Teuchi Ichiraku adopted him after his parents were killed during the Kyuubi's attack."

"What's so special about him?"

"He is the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi."

To his satisfaction, she didn't react with any overt surprise. She just chewed the inside of her cheek thoughtfully, before speaking.

"Who're his real parents? I figure you didn't just take any random brat and give him the power to be a god of war."

"No, we did not. His father was the Fourth Hokage-!"

This time her brow did rise, but he wasn't done yet.

"-and his mother was Kushina Uzumaki."

"What? So… he's the last one?"

"The last of his line."

Anko groaned and scratched her head with irritation. "Why'd you have to give me this kid old man? You do realize you're pretty much entrusting me with the future of Konoha here? If I fuck up, we're screwed."

"More or less."

Despite her reaction, he knew she would agree. She was best suited to guide a genin who would one day feel cheated by the very village he protected. She had undergone the same feeling, and he was certain that she would guide Naruto through it when it undoubtedly arose.

"Alright, what do I need to know about him? Any side effects to being the demon container for a force of nature?"

"That will all be covered in your meeting with Danzo. We've kept a close eye on him throughout the years, and we also have knowledge based on the previous jinchuuriki's."

She nodded grimly and stood to leave, file in hand. As she reached the door, she looked back and asked him.

"Why did you let a random villager adopt him and raise him? All kinds of things could have gone wrong with that. Would've made more sense to put him with a shinobi wouldn't it?"

He met her gaze and remained silent, willing to see if she could come to her own conclusion. Watching the realization dawn on her face was amusing in and of itself, but then she laughed long and hard. Even he had to chuckle.

"Really?" she asked him,

"Yes."

"That's fucking brilliant. I never would have guessed."

"Goodbye Anko." she waved over her shoulder as she left his office laughing.

Hiruzen smiled to himself. Setting unrealistic goals for his shinobi was always an entertaining exercise.

He knew there was little chance of them fulfilling his command, but that wasn't the point. This deadline would make them work and allow the rapid growth of Konoha's future leaders.

Best case scenario, they would be prepared for the chuunin exams in Konoha, and would perform admirably for their age. Worst case scenario, they wouldn't participate in these exams, but would instead participate in the far more important chuunin exams held in the Land of Iron next year.

Either way, Konoha's reputation would be grow or die, by their performances.

oOoOo

**AN: **Thanks for reading. Please leave me some feedback. The next chapter will be up shortly.

Have a wonderful day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Fear, Chaos, Pain **

**Chapter 2**

OoOoO

**NARUTO**

Naruto sat on the fence as the genin academy let out. Watching the faces of all the newly crowned genin was kind of strange. They all seemed happy, and had you asked him two days ago whether or not he would feel the same when the bell rang for the last time he would have answered with a clear and resounding yes. But, just as Ayame-neesan had said, he realized that he was going to miss it.

He wasn't so much going to miss the actual _going to _the academy. But he was so going to miss the first experiences.

He would never again hold a kunai for the first time, experience hearing about the Hokages for the first time, or experience the sweet satisfaction that came from realizing that your fist was a weapon of prodigious danger.

Even the playground sparring sessions held a special place in his heart. Partially because that was the only place he had ever beaten Sasuke in a fight, but even more due to the fact that he was the official 'kage of the yard'. Best brawler in all of Konoha's ninja academy.

He shook his head and tried to free his mind of the wooly grasp of nostalgia. There were more important things he had to do now. Namely, he had to find his new teammates and go to the meeting place their jounin had chosen.

Iruka-sensei had already told him where he was meant to meet his new teammates, Ground 44 wherever that was, but he really wanted to see them before then. Now that they were a team, they had to work together, and he thought it would make a good first impression if he and his teammates arrived at the meeting point together. But that was only going to happen if he could even find his teammates.

Of the four graduating classes of genin, he knew most of the people in Class 1 and Class 3 quite well, but Classes 3 and 4 were mostly strangers to him. Some of the boys he recognized, mostly thanks to the sparring sessions they'd had. With the exception of Sakura-chan, the girls were almost entirely a mystery to him.

That's what was making it so hard to spot Ino Yamanaka. He'd asked around in his class before they were released and he had managed to accumulate 3 pieces of information about her. She was blonde, she was pretty, and she was loud. One girl, Mikiko _might_ have been her name, had actually joked that Ino was like a female version of him. Thinking about it now, Mikiko was probably flirting with him. Oh well.

He sat on the fence for a further ten minutes or so, waving goodbye to passing friends, and scanning the crowd of newly promoted genin for a pretty loud blonde.

His focus on the task was so great that he almost didn't notice the bespectacled genin come up to him until he called his name.

"Are you Naruto Ichiraku?" the boy asked.

Naruto glanced down at him and smiled. "The one and only! Let me guess, you're Ino?"

The boy didn't laugh. "My name is Shino Aburame. We are to be teammates, so I hope we can co-exist peacefully and efficiently."

Naruto scratched the back of his and sighed. Clearly Shino wasn't one for jokes.

"That's great Shino. I was just looking for Ino, can't find her though."

Shino glanced at the crowd for a moment as well before turning back to Naruto.

"We should go to our team rendezvous point. If she follows instructions she will be there."

"Yeah, but, you know, everyone's getting together as a team here first **then **going to the meeting points. Just thought it would be cool if we showed up together. Maybe we could even impress our sensei."

Shino stared at him for a moment, and Naruto heard a faint buzzing sound emanating from him.

"Fine. We shall wait for a further five minutes. If you cannot identify her by that point, we should leave and go to the rendezvous point."

"Great. Now keep your eyes peeled. She's like a girl version of me, blonde, pretty, and loud."

OoOoO

**SHINO**

Shino's shikaichu buzzed anxiously, reflecting his growing annoyance. They'd been waiting for close to ten minutes now, and he could already tell that Naruto was going to be a nuisance to work with. He had absolutely no respect for time.

They'd agreed to wait five minutes, and when the five minutes had run out, Shino had told Naruto, but the blond had stubbornly insisted they wait a few more minutes. Minutes which he then spent talking to a boy named Kiba, instead of actually searching for Ino.

He only managed to get him to leave when the academy yard was beginning to empty. Most other genin had been picked up by their sensei, and the few that had meeting places away from the academy had already left.

So they only got going close to twenty minutes late, and that got Shino buzzing even more. He hated being late. He also disliked meaningless conversation.

"So Shino, do you like Ramen?" Naruto asked. Shino assumed the question was rhetorical since Naruto didn't wait for a response before continuing.

"I do. My dad owns a Ramen stand in the market district. Except he's not really my dad, since I'm an orphan. What about you? You a civvie as well?"

"No."

"Ahh, that's too bad. But that means you're from a clan right? That must be pretty awesome. Does your clan have clan jutsu, or a cool Kekkei Genkai?"

Shino glanced at his expectant face. Everyone always wanted to see the bugs. But they all reacted the same way, no matter how excited they originally were, with disgust.

For the first time though, Shino actively hoped it would deter Naruto from speaking so much.

With only partially feigned resignation, Shino compelled his kikaichu to crawl onto his face.

Surprisingly, the look on Naruto's face turned to glee at the sight of the bugs, and he had to actually lean away as Naruto came uncomfortably close.

"Wow. That is so cool. So you're an Aburame huh?"

Shino took half a step further away. "Yes. I told you that."

The blond just shrugged, "Wasn't paying attention. Happens a lot."

"I see."

"So where do they stay? In your jacket? Can I see?"

Naruto stepped closer again, almost looking right down the collar of Shino's jacket. In fear that he was about to be physically explored, Shino moved the conversation on.

"Let us converse about another topic."

Naruto narrowed his eyes momentarily, but thankfully wasn't so socially inept as to try force the issue.

"How're you planning on spending your first paycheck?" he asked.

Now that was an interesting question which Shino already knew the answer to. He had already picked out the colony growth hormones that he was going to spend his money on. But even with the Aburame discount he would get, it was going to take several months of saving on a genin's salary. Regardless, he was just happy that someone else was interested enough to listen to-

"Cause I've already got it figured out. Me and Kiba are gonna go to the strip joint downtown. You know the place right? Yeah, we've already scoped it out and everything. We're allowed now since we're adults. Don't worry though, you can come with."

Shino sighed and pulled the hems of his jacket tighter around his face. The walk to the Ground 44 suddenly felt like it was going to take much longer.

OoOoO

**INO**

Ino watched the weird Jounin warily as she continued to list the multitude of ways one could skin a cat.

"Umm… Anko-san?" she interjected.

"Yes bratling?"

"I don't need to know about every different way. Just one was enough."

Anko seemed to sulk for a moment before brightening again.

"How about I show you then? I'm sure I can scrounge up a cat somewhere?"

Ino sighed as Anko began to glance around suspiciously. The lady was insane. Hopefully her teammates would arrive sometime soon, along with their sensei, and relieve her of the woman's presence. When she'd arrived, she'd first thought that the creepy lady _was_ their sensei, but she was way too weird for that to be the case. Jounin were meant to be calm, cool, and responsible. Like her father, and her uncle. Not eccentric.

Besides, it was scary enough having come across this crazy lady freak, but the fact that their sensei had told them to meet at the Forest of Death was even more disconcerting. What kind of sensei met their team in front of the most dangerous place in Konoha?

Her dad had told her about it before, mostly as a means of getting her to do chores when she was a child. He always said that all the bad girls got sent there forever.

Now, standing in front of the entrance at 14 years old, she could sincerely say that she hoped to never see the inside of it. Even from the entrance it looked menacing. Giant trees stretched hundreds of feet into the sky, casting dark shadows that raked across the forested landscape. Ino could imagine that they must look like claws from up above.

The only thing that surprised her about the forest was how quiet it was. Her dad had said that the sounds of death constantly rung in the air, so much so that you could barely think about anything but death. And yet, here she was right outside the entrance, and it was silent.

It was actually scarier than she imagined. She would never understand why this place was built, and she swore she would never set foot inside. Quite frankly, who would do so willingly?

As the thought crossed her mind Anko went running past her, before leaping smoothly over the fence and disappearing into the dark brush, muttering all the way.

That woman was most definitely insane.

It only took a further ten minutes for her teammates to arrive. She heard them coming before she saw them. Well, one of them at least.

"I'm telling you Shino! We'll be the best team in all of Konoha. Trust me."

Ino stood, hands on hips, prepared to give her very late teammates a piece of her mind.

Just as they came out of the trees and into clear view, Ino almost reeled in shock.

All this time, she'd been praying beyond hope that one of her teammates would be looker. She knew Sakura had struck out by getting stuck with dog-breath and boulder-boy, and Sasuke had ended up with Shikamaru and the Hyuuga Heiress. Unfortunately, she hadn't been paying close attention when her team was announced, so she had no idea who they were.

One of them was frumpy looking and wore a heavy jacket with a high collar that hid most of his face anyways, so he was obviously a no. The other one was… brilliant. The blond hair, bright blue eyes, and cute scars on his cheeks, there was nothing to lose with that one.

She quickly adjusted her stance slightly. Still visibly annoyed, but not like she was about to go on the warpath.

"You're late." She said.

"Uhhh… yeah that was my bad. Me and Shino thought we'd look for you after the academy let us out, but we couldn't find you."

Shino beside him seemed to bristle but he said nothing.

"Well, _I_ came straight here because I didn't want make my teammates wait." She said.

The blond scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry. We probably should have done that too."

Ino arched her brow as she regarded them coolly.

'_He's so cute when he's nervous! I can't wait to tell Sakura!'_

"Naruto, is it? You'll have to make it up to me somehow." She said with a smirk.

With a flick of her ponytail she turned away from them and sashayed back to the fence. She leant her back against it and watched as the two of them came closer, cautiously looking at the dark forest behind her.

"Come on! It's not _that _scary."

Shino kept his distance, but Naruto grinned and came closer. She was about to tease them again when the fence shook violently and she threw herself forwards with a shriek.

She turned round expecting to see some giant beast clambering over the fence, but instead just saw Anko stood on top of the fence cackling.

"You… should… should have _seen…_ your faces! That was fucking priceless." She wheezed.

Naruto had also fallen over, and even Shino was several feet further back than he had been before.

Anko wiped her eyes as they collected themselves. Ino however, was not about to just forget that.

"What the hell is wrong with you!? I thought you were a… a… a monster or something!"

Anko grinned at her. "Far as you're concerned, I might as well be. Gekko!"

They all looked at her strangely for a moment, and were once again surprised as a man seemed to materialize from thin air right next to her.

"So, how'd they do?" Anko asked him. He coughed once and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Poorly. I followed them closely from the academy, and at no point did they notice my presence. The girl didn't notice me once I arrived here either. Their genjutsu and overall awareness are severely lacking."

Anko seemed to pout at that. "That sucks, here I was hoping I was misled, and actually had a team of prodigies. Oh well, you gotta work with what ya got."

"Listen here brats." She said as she dropped down to lean against the massive fence.

"My name is Anko Mitarashi. My lovely assistant over here…" she gestured to the man slouched beside her,

"is Gekko Hayate. Swordsman extraordinaire and chronic cougher."

Gekko coughed.

"And we are going to be your teachers, babysitters, or whatever the hell you want to call us. I've taken a look at your reports-so has Hayate-and I have to say, I'm pretty fucking disappointed."

She turned her gaze sharply to Ino.

"Ino Yamanaka, daughter of Inoichi Yamanaka, heir to bla bla bla. You graduated with the best results amongst the Kunoichi in all seven of the graduating classes. Let that sink in for a moment. _You_, are the most talented kunoichi of your generation."

Anko stared at Ino, and despite Naruto's general inability to understand women he could tell she was being sarcastic.

"Let's consider the details shall we?" she continued, "You've got an accuracy rate of 79% on stationary targets, and 56% on moving targets. You scored 84% on the written test, and your taijutsu is described as, adequate. That's disgraceful. How in Kami's name do you not hit _every single stationary _target? Don't answer that."

"You!" she shouted, pointing at Shino, "Shino Aburame. Also heir to a bunch of things I couldn't care less about. You scored barely any better than she did. And your ninjutsu is by some miracle worse than hers! Your only redeeming score was in the written test, where you scored 88%."

"Last but not least, Naruto Ichiraku."

Naruto felt sweat roll down the back of his neck as she stared at him. Why wasn't she saying anything? She hadn't paused for either Ino or Shino. Did he want her to say anything? Did she want _him _to say anything?

"You're actually not as bad as these two."

"W-what?" Naruto replied,

"You heard me. You aren't as bad. I mean sure, you can't perform jutsu to save your life, but you've got a good reason for that, shit chakra control, something we can work on. And, you make up for it with your taijutsu scores, best in your class, and third in the year."

Naruto smiled at the surprising turn around. He didn't get to savor the feeling as he noticed the frosty glare Ino was shooting him. Even Shino was expressing something that bordered on emotion as he ignored his existence.

"Now that I've explained my general opinions of your… skills shall we say. I think we should celebrate the fact that you're all now shinobi of the leaf."

She clapped her hands mockingly with a bright smile on her face. Gekko coughed and scratched his nose.

"What responsibilities does being a shinobi involve?" she then asked.

None of them moved to answer. Naruto sure as hell wasn't going to, he was just doing his best to make it look as if he wasn't avoiding eye contact with her. Shino-the lucky bastard-had his glasses, so you couldn't really tell if he was paying attention or not.

"Okay, nice to see the boys and girls at the academy left _something _for me to teach you guys." She rolled her eyes.

"Normally there aren't too many responsibilities actually. Get a mission, kill a few people, and steal a few things. It isn't all that complicated. But that is for normal shinobi, which you won't be forever."

She was staring at them straight faced now. Her gaze was steely, and Naruto felt compelled to meet her eyes.

"You guys are going to have it rough for the entirety of our time together. The reason for this is simple. You guys are meant to become elite shinobi. The very best Konoha has to offer.

You won't remember the Kyuubi's attack on the village, but let me tell you something about it.

When we all woke up in the middle of the night to find that a demon had rocked up on our doorstep, we didn't look to the chuunin who guard the gates and man the walls. We didn't look to the jounin who 'save princesses' and kill bandits. We looked to the elite. We looked to the clan heads, the sannin, the Hokages. They were the only thing that stood between us and oblivion. Now, most of them are dead, old, or gone. People like me and Gekko are the elite for now, but that won't last forever. One day something else will come knocking on Konoha's door, and we'll die protecting the village, and then it'll be your turn.

My job, is to do my best to make sure you become good enough to do that. But I can only do my job, if you guys are willing to bleed for it. Do I make myself clear?"

Naruto nodded, and knew instinctively that his teammates were doing the same.

"Good. Let's get started with your training."

OoOoO

**ANKO**

Anko smiled at them. She was never one for dancing round the truth. It was better that they knew exactly what was expected of them right from the off.

Plus, she was pretty pleased with her mostly improvised speech.

She pointed to the open field not too far from them.

"That's where you're going to take turns getting your asses handed to you by me. Hop to it. Last one there goes first whilst I'm still fresh."

Naruto was up and gone before she even finished talking. Ino and Shino followed him at a far more sedate pace, although Ino was noticeably walking just ahead of the bug boy.

As Anko stepped forward to follow them, a breeze blew around her.

"Yes Gekko?" she said sweetly as she turned to face him. He wasn't amused.

"That was not what we planned. They were not meant to know the importance of their roles."

"Have I ever told you sound like a dead person. You have like no emotion in your voice."

Again, he didn't laugh. Not even a twitch. She had hoped he'd be a bit more flexible than this, but alas, she was going to have to clear the air sooner rather than later.

"Okay, let's get something straight here. You might be higher up in the food chain than I am, but I'm in charge of this team. I'm going to train them however the hell I feel like, and your job is to _assist _me, when, and only when, I ask for it."

He continued to stare blankly at her for a moment before giving her a short nod and making his way to the genin.

As she followed him, Anko wished again that Danzo hadn't _suggested _that Gekko work with her and her team. It was going to make everything so much more difficult.

When she got to the genin Naruto immediately pointed at Ino and Shino.

"They got here way after me."

Anko just shrugged. "I was just fucking with you. No sparring today."

She ignored his scandalized expression and told them to sit down.

"First I'm going to go over some basics with you. You _have _been taught how to do the four basic academy techniques right? Clone jutsu, transformation jutsu, tree walking and water walking."

Shino and Ino nodded confidently, but Naruto hesitated.

"Umm… sensei? I can only do the transformation and tree walking well. I'm only ok at water walking, and I can't do the clone jutsu."

"That'll do for now. Now, today I'm going to introduce you to two things, the next two 'fundamentals' for all shinobi. Have you brats ever seen the body flicker technique in action?"

Once again Shino and Ino nodded and Naruto shook his head.

"Well, here's the basic theory behind it. You use it go faster. You overload the muscles with concentrated chakra in order to increase your speed. Demonstration Gekko!"

Gekko turned towards a thick tree that stood about twenty feet away. With a quick motion he threw a kunai at the tree. Anko could tell that they'd barely kept up with it.

"Alright Gekko, now using the technique."

The genin gaped at her, and watched him as he looked at the tree again. This time he moved fast enough that she knew they hadn't seen it at all. They only turned their heads to the tree after they heard the sound of impact.

Even Anko couldn't help but enjoy their gasps of surprise.

"Impressive ain't it? The body flicker speeds things up big time. Most people can't isolate it to a limb like Hayate just did though, that's A rank stuff. I'm guessing the few times you've come across it it's just been used to quickly leave right? Well, that's how it's normally used. Most shinobi only have the control to use it with their entire bodies, meaning linear full body movements, and that has some serious disadvantages."

The genin sat paying rapt attention as she continued.

"First of all, it damages your muscles, and for a short while after using it you really feel the strain in your bones. Secondly, unless you have the ability to process and react to things moving at that speed, you're pretty much running blind. When you're moving that fast it's next to impossible to see what you're doing, which is why it isn't too useful for combat unless you learn to isolate your limbs. And lastly, it takes concentration to pull off. You can't use it to save your ass when someone's surprised you cause you'll probably be panicking. Gekko, demonstration for full body flicker!"

Gekko again turned to the tree and took out a kunai. The genin leant forwards, eager to catch his movements.

He held the kunai above his head and threw it, immediately after throwing it, he disappeared. They looked at the tree, and he was stood beside it, his hand holding onto the kunai he had thrown.

Anko cackled as the genin applauded the demonstration.

"Haha, there you go boys and girls! Gekko Hayate, faster than a speeding kunai!"

Gekko just coughed and made his way back having retrieved his kunai.

"Okay then, any questions so far?"

Naruto's hand immediately went up, and she nodded at him.

"If there are people who can fight anywhere close to that fast, how're we meant to beat them?"

"Fantastic question Naruto, it leads perfectly into the jaws of the next technique I'm gonna show you. Gekko! Demonstration!"

This time Anko drew her kunai and watched with barely contained sadism as Gekko pulled his headband down to cover his eyes. When he gave her the thumbs up she lunged at him, slashing and tearing with the kunai.

He dodged her strikes, but refrained from countering since that wasn't the point of the exercise. Every slice she attempted he avoided with almost consummate ease, and even when she threw some shuriken at him he spun away. She stopped after a minute and turned back to the genin, pleased to see Naruto and Ino's jaws hanging loose.

"How did he do that?" asked Ino, "He couldn't see a thing could he?"

"That's the point brat, he sensed the attacks. All shinobi need to be able to acutely sense chakra to some degree. Sensing chakra is one of the most important things you will ever learn, because if you don't you won't live long enough to learn much else.

Using sensing, you can somewhat anticipate movements, and at the very least know what part of your opponent is about to do _something_. Good sensors can also use their skills for other stuff like tracking and seeing through genjutsu. The best sensors, can pretty much telegraph your every move. Rumor has it that's how the sharingan works.

This technique is going to be the bread and butter of your taijutsu experience from tomorrow onwards. Me and Gekko won't hold back much in regards to speed when we spar, so you'll have to learn quick if you want to go home with fewer bruises."

Anko paused for a moment and feigned deep thought.

"Speaking of home, I advise you all get a good night's rest. As of tomorrow, this little garden of joy is gonna be your home for the next month."

They all looked over her shoulder at the Forest of Death, and Ino fell back onto the grass with a groan.

They had no idea just how much she had planned for them.

oOoOo

**AN: **Thanks again for reading. Let me know what you think of the story so far. Next chapter should be up shortly.

Have a fantastic day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Fear, Chaos, Pain**

**Chapter 3**

OoOoO

**SAKURA**

As she ran around the edge of training ground 10 for what felt like the thousandth time, but was only really the fiftieth, Sakura began to question why she had ever signed up to be a shinobi in the first place.

It was bad enough that she'd been put on the same team as Kiba and Chouji, but from the moment they had met their jounin instructor, she'd been forced to review life choices. The man was evil.

First, he made them spar with him. Kiba, with all of his annoying energy had opted to go first. And Sakura would swear till the day she died that their bastard sensei had held nothing back. He moved faster than she could keep track of, and he hit hard enough that even she flinched from the safety of the sidelines. After he had all but demolished the poor boy, she had asked him a simple question. Why?

His answer? Because they didn't know pain or suffering, and for them to get anywhere with him, they had to understand pain and suffering in all its form, and its simplest form, was physical.

What did that even mean!? What did it have to do with anything!?

He probably had some hidden meaning buried deep in that little quote of his, but not only did she not get it, but she had little incentive to get it at all.

From there, he had proceeded to systematically destroy any sense of self belief she had ever had. Every strike she tried to hit him with, he dodged with frustrating ease. Every strike he landed, rocked her to the bone. Her genjutsu hadn't slowed him down for even a moment.

He had defeated her, utterly and completely in 17 seconds. He'd even done her the favor of counting aloud. That had done _wonders_ for her self-esteem. Chouji had taken 19 seconds and Kiba 14. To be fair to Kiba, he was worse probably because he was the first one to go and hadn't expected to be beaten so easily.

Then he had made them fight him all together. Kiba had gone at him like a wild animal, more furious than anything else. He was out in 6 seconds. Chouji had made a desperate attempt to blindside him whilst Sakura used a genjutsu. He was out in 7 seconds. And when she'd tried to hit him with a kunai from behind, he'd caught it and thrown it back and between her eyes so fast she didn't even have a moment to regret all the things she had ever said and done. That was when she woke up from the genjutsu and realized that he'd taken her out first. In 2 seconds. She'd never even heard of the genjutsu he used. It was so unfair.

As much as she hated to say it, it was just unfair. How where they meant to go toe to toe with him, he was a jounin! They were just 14 year old genin with literally no mission experience.

Now, he had them running. He hadn't told them when to stop. He just told them to run. And naturally he hadn't left it at that. He'd put chakra seals on them.

He'd explained that they needed to understand true physical fatigue in order to better appreciate the importance of chakra conservation.

Every step was excruciating, every breath more ragged and short than the last. She couldn't keep going for much longer. Never before had she felt pain like this. Her legs felt like dead weights dragging her down, and the worst thing was she could feel her chakra in her core. It pushed and pulled, flexed and contracted in an effort to reach her muscles and soothe their pain.

Beside her she could hear Chouji's heavy breathing. Guilt flooded her as she remembered her less than complimentary thoughts when they'd first started this exercise. She had been sure that she'd be able to beat the rotund boy. Maybe avoid their sensei's wrath, as it would focus on Chouji instead, but as the laps blurred into one another and she lost track of time she had slowed down. One moment she had been on the verge of lapping Chouji, and the next his heavy treads dogged her every step.

This could not get any worse.

"Come… on… Sakura…" he wheezed behind her, "Don't… give… up."

The guilt was suffocating.

But she pushed on. For one more lap, then another, then one more. She lost count how many more laps she ran, but she began to stumble. Half the time she wasn't even stumbling on anything more than her own feet, but she knew it was going to happen eventually. She would fall and not get up again. So when her feet chose to entangle themselves, she wasn't surprised to see the ground rising to meet her. She barely had the energy to rise on all fours.

Chouji's footsteps slowed, and he turned to help her, but as she looked up at him she saw the fearful expression on his face.

"Go." The steady voice came from behind her.

Chouji didn't even begin to contest the instruction. He simply nodded and turned around, seemingly finding a new wind as he took off.

Sakura heard the footsteps walk calmly around her and she dropped her head. She didn't want to look in his eyes. His feet came into view as he came to a stop before her.

"Get up."

Her legs shook with exertion, and she blinked the sweat from her eyes. This was going to hurt.

"I'm tired." She whispered.

It was barely loud enough for _her _to hear. He shouldn't have heard her. He did.

"Inuzuka!" he barked. "Are you _tired?"_

Kiba replied as he jogged past them.

"Yes sir!"

"So when are you going to stop running?"

"When you tell me to sir!"

"That's funny isn't it Haruno? It seems, you're not the only who's tired. Yet, you want to rest. Is there some special reason why I should let you? Perhaps because you are… weak? Are you weak Haruno? Or maybe… it's because you're still just a little girl, playing at being a shinobi."

She pushed off her hands angrily, ignoring the dirt on hands and pain in her legs, and mustered the audacity to glare at him… or a point above his shoulder. Baby steps after all.

Without a word she resumed jogging, and pretended she couldn't feel his dull stare on her back. Oh yes, she was going to find a way, anyway, to kill Yamato-sensei.

OoOoO

The street lights were on in the neighborhood, and the roaring quiet of the night was in full effect as Sakura trudged home.

Dragging herself along on what felt like dead legs was easily one of the strangest physical experiences she had ever had. Her muscles felt bloated and numb, but with her chakra full, she knew she wasn't actually tired. It was like _feeling _tired, but being able to do everything with her normal capability anyways.

A member of the shinobi police asked her if she needed to be walked home as she entered the residential area, but she brushed him off, as kindly as her mental fatigue would allow. She made sure to avoid the alleys and managed to reach the outside of her home undisturbed.

The porch light was on in the two story townhouse. All other lights were off so presumably her mother was asleep.

She didn't bother to keep quiet as she opened the front door. She locked it behind her and turned to go through the living room. There, her father was sat by the sofa, rubbing the sleep from his bleary eyes.

"Sakura?"

"Otosan."

He stood as if to come closer but instead he just seemed to hover where he rose, unsure whether to come or go.

He nervously rubbed his hands on his pants and tried to smile. "Your mother was worried about you."

"Where is she?"

"Well… she's sleeping. She has some important clients coming in from Tanzaku Town tomorrow so she needs her sleep."

Sakura nodded absently. She knew her mother didn't care for her choice of profession.

"I remember you said you were meeting your team today? How did that go?"

She heard the slightly eager tremble in his voice. He must have seen how tired she looked, and she knew exactly what he was hoping she would say. All the anger and frustration she'd accumulated seemed to rise up in a bid to escape, and this time she let it.

"Why don't you ask me what you really want to ask?"

"Sakura I-!"

"No! You just want to hear me say I quit! How many times do I have to tell you, both of you! I don't want to be your meek little flower to parade around to sons of lords and ladies. And I certainly don't want to marry anyone you choose!"

He seemed to almost jump forward then, as if that was what he was waiting for her to say.

"I've cancelled the marriage contract to Atsushi-san. You don't have to marry him if you don't wish to."

"It's not _just_about that. Why do you need to control everything I do! And what about when the next noble lady comes knocking, asking for the hand of the girl with the pink hair? What then? Can't you just let me make my own decisions?"

"Not when they're this foolish. Sakura you've only been in the shinobi academy for a year, every other child has been there for the past _six_. You're not ready for something like this."

She balled her fists and stormed past him, ignoring his cries for her to return. She took the stairs two at a time, and heard the sound of a door closing as she reached the top of the stairs. Her mother had been listening.

Without stopping she strode into her room and slammed the door closed behind her. She locked the door and fell back onto it, sliding down till she was sat on the floor.

She heard her father come up to the door a few minutes later. He stood there for the longest time, and she waited for him to try opening the door or knock, but eventually his footsteps turned around and she heard him enter his room.

As the heat left her face her anger subsided, but her frustration still remained.

Why couldn't her parents understand that simple fact? She'd never liked being told what to do, even when she was just a little girl. But they seemed unable to understand that.

A ray of sadness permeated her frustration. Because for all she hated what her parents said and did, could they be right? She _was _behind everyone else.

Most children who were put into the shinobi academy joined at a very young age and had the time to develop the physical and mental attributes necessary to succeed in this life. Sure, even the civilian schools had a compulsory rudimentary fighting program, but that was nothing compared to the taijutsu training she'd been doing since she joined the academy.

She'd struggled so hard for the past year, combing through books and scrolls, running every day, and even convincing Ino to let her train with her, not that it took much convincing. She'd thought it'd be enough to keep up.

She was ecstatic to get a perfect score in the written portion of the genin exam, but she'd barely passed in taijutsu, and her score was by and away the worst of the graduates. Despite that, she was at least happy to graduate. She'd thought maybe now, she could grow with her teammates and maybe make something of herself. But she'd been so wrong. Kiba and Chouji had left her in the dust in just one session.

Her shinobi career had only just begun, and she didn't know how long she could keep it together at this rate. It was just so… unfair.

oOoOo

**AN: **_Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think of the story so far, and have yourself a brilliant day. _

_Just a few things I wanted to say. First of all, this chapter is obviously a bit short and I apologize for that. I just covered everything I wanted to in regards to Sakura's introduction., and the next chapter may be the same, but at least it will be up in a day or two. So that's a plus...right?_

_Secondly, some of the AU elements are hopefully coming through now. I've referenced the characters' ages as being 14 purposely because in this AU, the normal graduation age is 14. _

_The next chapter will be up shortly since I'm on some kind of spree at the moment. Never written this much in quick succession before, fingers crossed it will last._


	4. Chapter 4

**Fear, Chaos, Pain**

**Chapter 4**

OoOoO

**KAKASHI**

Kakashi didn't like genin. He also disliked children. Incidentally, most genin were children. Regardless, he _really_ didn't like genin. Too fragile, died easily. But he did like free food, which is partly why he found himself eating in the upper market district of Konoha with three genin and a jounin.

The barbecue was good, and he wasn't paying. His go to explanation as to why he was doing this. Of course the real reason was because the Hokage told him to, and despite how informal he often he appeared when interacting with the old man, he knew a unyielding order when he heard one.

Asuma was currently regaling them with a story about an assassination attempt he had thwarted during his stint as a member of the Twelve Guardians. Most of it was filled with contradictions and exaggerations, but it had won over many a lady, and was apparently winning over the genin as well.

Hinata was paying the jounin all of her attention, her eyes wide with admiration as he described the venue of the event, momentarily free of the fear and insecurity she'd shown in the bell test.

Kakashi had already made up his mind about the Hyuuga girl. She was timid, weak willed, and devoid of any kind of determination. She was pretty much the kind of kid destined to die sooner or later in the world of shinobi.

And his job was to make sure that didn't happen.

From the moment he had read her file he'd known just what was expected of him. He knew he was arguably the most revered shinobi in the village, beaten only by the Hokage himself. Though most people only knew him thanks to Operation: Desert Storm.

With his level of ability, they probably expected him to keep her alive and make sure she reached chuunin.

She was heir to the Hyuuga clan. That meant that once she hit chuunin, she was likely to be removed from fully active duty. So, all he had to do was make sure she made it that far. Thankfully, making chuunin had less to do with combat capability, and more to do with teamwork, decision making and things of that nature. Those _could _be faked well enough for her get the pass, especially if Danzo was the one who gave out the promotions. The man was as dishonest as any, and such a small lie wouldn't give him pause.

Shikamaru Nara was a little more worrying. Although he didn't look like much, he was a genius. That much was clear once you saw him in action. He'd sussed out the point to the bell test within moments of Asuma explaining it.

Unfortunately his genius was wasted. The kid was lazy, and untalented in most other regards. It was a wonder he'd passed.

When the Hokage had told Kakashi that they were taking the clan heirs, he seriously expected far better genin. Looking over the class lists, he was surprised to see that many of the heirs had average if not mediocre overall grades. And he had gotten two of the worst three. A death sentence on anyone else's watch, but he was sure he could handle it.

Besides, Asuma had clearly taken a liking to Shikamaru. He could take care of his personal training and try get the kid to wisen up and improve his overall fitness and taijutsu.

The only student it seemed he was actually meant to teach was the Last Uchiha. He glanced at the brooding orphan, and was unsurprised to see him doing his best to seem uninterested in Asuma's story. Fingers interlocked, glaring at something else in the restaurant.

The boy had talent, certainly. But he was also full of arrogance. Most of it justified, but arrogance nonetheless.

Sasuke was driven and focused on his goal, dark as it was. All he needed was someone to point him in the right direction and he would take care of the rest himself.

Whilst he was sure that turning the boy away from vengeance was probably a good idea, he also knew that it would stick about as well as butter to a wall.

As for the chuunin exams, he wasn't worried at all. Sasuke at the very least would be above chuunin level by that point. His skills combined with the Nara's brains would be enough to carry them through and fulfill the Hokage's request. Then, maybe the Hokage would allow him to get out of the teaching role. He'd managed to avoid being a teacher ever since he was made a shinobi, first by joining ANBU, then by failing his teams, he was eager to be rid of the extra responsibility.

But all in all, Kakashi could have gotten a worse deal. The genin would turn out okay, Asuma would do most of the work, and Kakashi would save them when they, or Asuma, messed up. All in a day's work.

Why Kurenai was planning on conducting psych evaluations on her team was beyond him really. He put it down to rookie enthusiasm. She had only just made Jounin after all.

Plus, he was quickly finding that there was quite a bit of fun to be had with genin. Corrupting their innocence was quickly becoming a fascinating pastime. He nudged the Hyuuga heiress beside him.

"So Hinata, you seemed quite interested in my book earlier. Would you like a copy?"

OoOoO

**SASUKE**

Sasuke watched the people walking by outside the window. He analyzed their gaits, their posture, their hands, their eyes, their mouths. He knew some people would think it overly suspicious. Paranoid really. But one couldn't be certain of their safety when surrounded by people who can stick you with the pointy end of a kunai.

It had been a startling discovery when he realized that most everyone in Konoha had military training of sorts.

A city of hundreds of thousands of people, and most of them were trained to some degree.

Of course it wasn't too big a secret. After all, everyone knew that civilians had rudimentary combat training in their schools. And even many graduated genin from the ninja academy never continued with full time shinobi service. They took jobs elsewhere, and only did D-rank missions when their services were specifically requested.

From the moment Sasuke had found out that little fact, vulnerability had gained a whole new meaning in his mind. Anyone had the capacity to kill. The shopkeeper who sold his wares by the fountain in the square, the baker girl who ran around delivering cakes and buns, even the ramen shop owner who laughed at everything.

They could all turn around and stab him in the back.

So yeah, some people might say he was paranoid, but those people were either unaware, or looking to die.

Sasuke flinched as Asuma laughed loudly at something he'd said, ignoring the fact that it was in bad taste to laugh at your own jokes.

"That's exactly what I said to him! You should've seen his face. Let me tell you, the Daimyo rewarded me big time for that one. Maybe we'll pop into the capital sometime and get you guys a tour of the palace. What'dya think of that Sasuke?"

They looked at him, or at least Asuma and Shikamaru did. Hinata and Kakashi were oblivious to their surroundings.

Sasuke simply shrugged. "I've been there. It's tacky."

Asuma waved him off and continued his story to his only willing, using the term loosely, listener. Sasuke took what little joy he could in the jounin's slightly annoyed face.

But this was beginning to grate on his nerves, frayed as they already were. He had better things to do than waste his time listening to an idiot's fantasies.

"I'm leaving." he said.

Kakashi finally turned from Hinata, "So soon? The party was just getting started."

"I have training to do."

The one eyed jounin shrugged and turned back to Hinata. With no further words Sasuke turned and left, ignoring Asuma's yell.

"You're welcome for the free meal you ungrateful brat!"

OoOoO

It took Sasuke over an hour to get out of the upper market district, filled with night-lifers as it was, and by the time he reached the clan grounds he could barely stop his hands from shaking.

He clenched and unclenched his hands, sure of exactly what was causing his reaction. The crowds didn't normally get to him quite this badly. No, he was nervous, shaking, from anticipation.

He was going home. For the first time in over six years.

He'd wanted to go home for the longest time, but the Hokage had insisted that it wasn't safe, psychologically. Now that he was an adult however, he could do as he pleased with his property, and the first thing he had done was move.

His clothes and general items had been taken to the gates well ahead of time, earlier that day. So he could go straight there, and that somewhat scared him.

The din of the crowds had long dissipated, and as he walked closer and closer to the Uchiha clan grounds the world grew quieter around him.

The crickets didn't sing, the wind didn't whistle, the trees didn't sway. They were silent as the grave, and mourned his loss just as he did. _They _didn't laugh and sing and party and drink like the world was perfectly fine. _They _understood. Something was missing. It always would be.

Tall blue gates loomed ahead, the Uchiha fan painted onto their faces.

Sasuke noticed the wear of the paint. Of course, they'd forgotten to fix it. Somehow it didn't surprise him.

He pushed the gates open and walked inside.

The compound had once held over a hundred inhabitants. Uchiha's by name or blood had called it home for decades since Konoha's inception. The Uchiha were amongst the first to die for the village, and now, all that remained of their efforts, their sacrifice, was ashes.

Though he tried not to look as he walked down the street, Sasuke's eyes seemed to be drawn to the ruins. The black walls had crumbled over the years, succuming to the rage of time and calm of erosion. But in his eyes a day may as well not have passed.

He could hear their voices in the silence. See their faces. Their anguished screaming faces. Their voices like screams.

The Hokage said he was unconscious through it all. The massacre. That they'd found him lying on the porch of his house, unharmed, and dead to the world. Which is why he always wondered, how he remembered hearing them burn to death.

An entire clan burned to the ground by one man.

Every building was gutted by flames but one, right in the heart of the inferno. His home. It had survived, along with him in it. The only others found after the event were his parents bodies.

And now he stood in front of the house.

It looked the same as it did when he left, just older. Someone had probably been made to clean it up somewhat, judging by the lack of dust, but it was otherwise undisturbed.

"Are you going to go in?"

Sasuke spun round to see the ANBU agent standing just a few feet away from him in the middle of the road.

"Hello?" asked again, cocking her head to the side. "You going to go in or stare at the door the whole day. It's unsettling out here."

"What are you doing here? This is Uchiha territory. You can't be here without my permission."

"And yet here I stand. I have a job to do, namely, keep an eye on you. I can't do it covertly thanks to the Uchiha security seals, and I sure as hell am not going to creep around inside the burnt houses."

Sasuke glared at her. He knew that the Hokage always had an ANBU operative tailing him, but for that to extend even after his graduation and into his home.

"Fine. Do whatever you want, but you are not welcome into my house."

"Whatever you say, I guess I'll make myself at home out here."

When he closed the front door behind him she was still stood in the street. Hopefully she'd forgotten to bring anything warm to wear, it could get quite windy.

oOoOo

**AN/: Thanks for reading the chapter, leave a review if something comes to mind. What you liked, what you didn't that sorta thing. Helps me get better.**

**Have a superb day.**

**Additional Comments:**

**Sorry the story is still action-less. I want to introduce each of the main characters before I move into the action.**

**A question for you though, currently my story is meant to follow Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Temari and Haku (Option A). But Temari and Haku's storylines aren't particularly linked all that closely to the others excluding one or two parts, so would you prefer I put their storylines in a separate fanfic altogether (Option B)? Or are you happy to read them here as well? Just a thought. Let me know so I can sort it out.**

**Option A - Two more chapters (One for Temari then Haku) in the next two or three days, then a break for me to write the next round.  
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**Option B - Two new stories go up for Temari and Haku.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Fear, Chaos, Pain**

**Chapter 5**

OoOoO

**TEMARI**

The city burned, fire lighting up the night sky. Screams echoed through the air, mingling with the crack of flame. She saw the villagers fleeing. The wind chilled her skin as she watched them burn. They throttled the entrance as they escaped, filtered through the narrow gates like sand in an hourglass.

Her eyes were drawn up and away. To the buildings that loomed above them and the flames. A shadow moved there. Between the buildings, tall as any tower, wider than any structure. It was moving closer. The villagers screamed louder, and the shadow rose further above the flaming structures. The light of the fire failed to make it visible, failed to pierce its void. All it revealed, where the eyes.

It looked out past the villagers, at her, its yellow eyes powerful and filled with malice. The screams heightened.

Then, it roared. And the world folded in half, buildings, bodies and flame falling towards her, burying her in a tide of sand and flesh.

OoOoO

Temari woke up tangled in her blankets. Her breaths came shakily and her heart raced. But she was fine.

The moon and the wind came through from her balcony doors. She'd left them open. Throwing the blankets aside, she went to the doors and stepped out onto the balcony.

She looked out onto the dormant city. No fire, no ruins, no monster. Though the last part wasn't quite so true.

As the chill began to affect her she returned inside, and closed the balcony doors behind her, stifling the whispers of the wind.

Though it often helped her sleep, there'd be no getting back to sleep now.

She went to her dresser and took out the simplest clothing she could find. A pair of black slacks and a sleeveless top. Both loose, and allowing for freedom in movement. On her way out of the room she retrieved her fans from beneath her pillow. Out of habit she snapped the two 12 inch instruments open and checked for tears in the fabric. She also checked that the tips were sharp and the slide undamaged. Once satisfied, she pocketed them and made her way out of her room.

Outside her door a guard was stood, surprisingly alert considering the time. Although that was to be expected, her brother's room was across the hall. And she only knew of one person who was truly comfortable in her Gaara's presence.

The guard bowed quickly.

"Is everything alright my lady?" he asked,

"I'm fine, just going to do some training."

"Should I accompany you?" his face seemed almost hopeful.

"I can find my way to the yard on my own. Stay here."

She looked at Gaara's door for a moment then added,

"Or you could go to the guard's room. You know, if you'd rather."

He bowed and strode off down the hall, probably grateful to be leaving Gaara's presence for a while.

For a moment she looked at his door. He wouldn't be sleeping. He never slept. Standing there in the middle of the night alone outside his room she was suddenly aware of just how isolated he was. No wonder assassins always chose this time to try and take his life.

Her fans weighed heavy in her pockets. She'd heard the stories. Of assassins sent to kill him in the night. All the villagers wanted him dead, or so she was told, and she couldn't really blame them. She'd seen what he could do, what he had done.

The last one to try had been the Captain of the Fan Maidens. She'd carried fans just like hers, having mastered them and used them for over a decade. Her body was found crushed and mangled the next morning. No one had heard her enter. No one had heard her die.

Temari turned and quickly walked away, leaving his door and the memories of his killers in her wake. There was a time and place for such dark thoughts, and it wasn't at 3 in the morning.

The short walk to the training yard took her just 10 minutes. When she arrived, she reveled in the fact that the yard was empty. Few and far between were the times she actually thanked the spirits for letting her be born into Suna's royal family, but this was definitely one of the perks. In a shinobi village, it went without saying that you would normally find someone at a training yard, even in the dead of night, but not in the Kazekage's personal yard.

She stood in the center of the yard and slipped the fans out of her pockets and into her ready hands. As she focused, her sensei's voice wafted through her mind.

'_Deep breaths Princess. Loosen your shoulders, release all tension. Breathe in. Let the wind enter your body. Now, become it.'_

She snapped her fans open and shifted into her stance. One arm held above her head, the fan casting a shadow on her face. The other arm extended forward, fan splayed open so that she could clearly see the two purple moons painted on its surface. For a moment she held the stance. Content just to feel the strain in her muscles as the seconds blew by.

Then, she spun into motion, and never stopped. Swing after swing cut through invisible opponents. Arteries were sliced, tendons severed lives brought to a halt. Her bare feet darted and shuffled, spurring dust from the earth, so that she could dance around it as it fell.

She felt her chakra begin to come alive with every complete movement. Taking it gently, she forced short bursts of chakra into the fans and small pockets of wind began to shoot out from her strikes.

'_Spin left, duck, slice across the knee, then rise into the throat.'_

"Having fun?"

She stumbled out of a strike and looked to the familiar voice.

"Kazeko."

The brown haired girl walked down the steps into the yard, a large golden fan strapped to her back. "Is that anyway to address your master?"

"It is when you're the Kazekage's daughter."

Kazeko laughed for a moment, amusement lightening her expression. Then, after a moment she asked, "Dreams keeping you up again?"

Temari sighed through her nose. "Why can't I just be practicing for the sake of practice?"

"At 3 in the morning?"

"Why are _you _awake then?"

"Some of us don't need sleep. Besides, you're not the only one with bad dreams."

Kazeko went silent then. Temari knew she was just trying to wait her out, make her so uncomfortable that she'd just tell her everything. A part of her wanted to keep it in, just to show her that she could do it. But she'd never been very good at denying Kazeko anything.

"It was the usual one." She said eventually, "The village burning, people running and screaming. Same old, same old."

Kazeko nodded thoughtfully, "Anything else?"

"No."

Kazeko went silent again. This time Temari knew it was because she was thinking. Kazeko had a tendency to zone out and lose focus, so it was better to give her space to sort out her thoughts.

Temari returned to her katas, but with less abandon than before.

After a while, she heard the sound of Kazeko opening her fans, and she turned to see her in a ready stance, golden fan laid down to the side. Fans spread open, and a cocky grin on her face.

"Show me what you got princess."

Kazeko came at her like a storm. Temari ducked under a fan slash and kicked out her leg. Kazeko danced away, and in the same movement, she struck out at her. Without a wasted breath Temari forced chakra into her fans and released a strong gust all around her, forcing her sensei back a few feet.

With a bark of laughter Kazeko leapt back in again, this time leading with a kick. Temari checked it early with her own leg, and jumped backwards rapidly releasing slashes of wind. Kazeko waved her fans, and seemed to pluck the slashes from the air and redirect them away as she closed in. Hastily, Temari snapped her fans closed and pushed on the slide, firing out small darts from the tips. Kazeko deflected them with the thin edge of one fan and lashed out with the other. It caught Temari on the chin and she stumbled.

Like a snake going in for the kill, Kazeko attacked. An elbow to the ribs, a strike to the wrist, and a disarming blow to the shoulder. Temari hit the ground hard and before she could even register her defeat, the air was forced out of her lungs as Kazeko mounted her, one leg pinning her only fan-equipped arm to the ground and a knee crushing her chest.

Kazeko smiled bemusedly down at her. "You were going a little hard there, trying to kill me?"

Temari fought to get her response out between breaths. "Get… off… can't… breath…"

Kazeko scoffed and removed the oppressive knee, sitting back instead on Temari's stomach.

"There, better now princess?" she asked,

"A little, now that you've stopped trying force your knee through my chest."

Kazeko shook her head and tutted, "You wouldn't be in this position if you'd won."

"Maybe I could've won if I had one of _those._" Temari nodded to the large fan still lying to the side of the training ground. "When are you going to give me one? I'm ready."

"No, you're not. You're talented, but you're not ready. Most girls only get to the third moon phase when they're twenty, if ever, so you've still got time."

"You got yours when you were 14! I'm 16 and I'm still running around with _these!_"

Temari shook the small fan in her sensei's face, willing her to concede. But as Kazeko softly grasped her wrist and smiled at her, she knew the jounin wouldn't budge.

"Keep trying princess. Maybe next year."

Kazeko leant forward and mockingly kissed her forehead, before standing up and going over to collect her large fan.

Temari sat up and placed her elbows on her knees with her head bowed, thankful that the darkness hid her blush.

"Where are you going now?" she asked

"I've got to visit the barracks. The sand rats should be dropping off the trainees from their survival exercises in a little bit so I'll need to be ready for them."

Temari couldn't hold back a grin. Back when she had started her official training with the Fan Maidens, their first task had been the very same survival task. Two long weeks spent in the desert. Braving the harsh conditions, and running from the Sand Rats. They'd nearly starved, nearly died out there, pushed well past their limits. And when they had returned to the Barracks, exhausted and pained, she'd been waiting for them. Kazeko No Sabaku, the Golden Goddess, their hero. She'd told them that this would be their one and only chance to quit. That it would only get harder from that day out. Almost half of the girls had left then and there. The rest had been inducted into the Fan Maidens that very morning.

"You're going to deliver your children of the sun speech again aren't you?"

Kazeko raised a harsh brow. "Does the sun rise in the east? Of course I'm going to. Trainees eat that shit up, I know you did."

"Maybe a little. Will I see you later today? For t-training?"

"I'd love to, but we've got a mission in the Valley so I'll be gone for a few weeks."

"Oh. So what am I supposed to do in the meantime?"

Kazeko scratched her head as she shrugged. "I don't know. Get some lessons from Baki? Work on your team? Control your brothers?"

She didn't elaborate further, but Temari's last team mission came to mind, and she knew that Kazeko must have heard wind.

"I can't control him, or Kankuro for that matter. They both like to do their own thing. They just won't listen to me."

"So make them listen. You've got to stand up and show them you're in charge. They don't see you as someone worth following."

"Yeah, and how am I supposed to overcome that?"

Kazeko blew a stray hair from her face, "I wouldn't tell you, even if I knew. This is your struggle Princess. One day you're going to be crowned Kazekage, and you need to be ready for that. Your biggest problem will be convincing the shinobi that they can be led by a woman, and the first thing they'll look at is whether or not you can control your brothers."

Kazeko came over to her helped her stand up. Temari kept her face down, not wanting her frustration to show.

"But… what if I can't control them? What kind of Kazekage would I make if I couldn't even keep my own brothers in check."

She felt Kazeko's warm hand clutch the side of her neck, and she looked up into her smiling brown eyes.

"You can do it. Trust me. Your brothers are both just little boys, and all boys are ruled by one of two things. Sex, or violence. Learn to control or remove those things from their lives and you'll be surprised by how quickly they calm down. And as for being Kazekage, don't sweat it. I'll be around to make sure you don't do anything too dumb."

Kazeko patted her shoulder and then stepped back. She reached behind her back to the golden fan she had reattached, and flicked it open.

A gust of wind washed over Temari, and as she peered through the light sand she heard Kazeko's voice.

"Go get some sleep! And remember, sex and violence!"

The wind blew harder for a few seconds, and when it cleared, Kazeko was gone.

'_Damn that's cool.'_

Temari spent a few minutes looking up into the dark sky, trying to see if she could identify Kazeko among the stars.

She watched for a while then, having decided to heed her sensei's instructions, she packed up her equipment and made her way back to her room.

The guard wasn't by the door, but that was to be expected, she had given him reason not to be. Without sparing more than a glance to Gaara's door she slipped into her room, put her gear aside and dropped into the silken sheets to fade off into a deep sleep.

A sleep still stalked by sand, haunted by beasts and soothed by the wind.

OoOoO

**AN: Thanks for reading. Please leave a review if you enjoyed it, helps me get better and keep writing.**

**Have a terrific day.**


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